June 25, 1988: The Dutch Win a Tournament At Last

Ruud Gullit

June 25, 1988: The Netherlands defeats the Soviet Union, 2–0, to win the Final of Euro 88 at the Olympiastadion in Munich -- having already beaten West Germany, the hosts and their arch-rivals, in the Semifinal.

Rinus Michels, who had built the Totalvoetball (Total Football) system at AFC Ajax in Amsterdam in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was their manager, as he had been at the 1974 World Cup.

Forwards Ruud Gullit, their Captain, and Marco van Basten, then both of AC Milan, scored the goals. The team also featured Milan centerback Frank Rijkaard. van Basten, Rijkaard and Vanenburg had previously played for Ajax. Midfielders Jan Wouters and Arnold Mühren were currently with Ajax.

From the PSV Eindhoven team that had just won the 1988 European Cup, making them, through the 2021-22 season, the only Dutch team to win a European Treble (Eredivisie, KNVB Beker, European Cup/UEFA Champions League), came goalkeeper Hans van Breuekelen, right back Berry van Aerle, centerback Ronald Koeman, and midfielder Gerald Vanenburg. Left back Adrianus "Adri" van Tiggelen played for Belgian team Anderlecht. Midfielder Erwin Koeman, Ron's brother, played for Belgian team Mechelen.

Gullit had previously played for Feyenoord and PSV. He and Erwin Koeman had previously played for PSV. Ron Koeman had previously played for Ajax, and would go on to play for Feyenoord, the only one of these to play for all of the Eredivisie's Big 3. van Tiggelen and Wouters later played for PSV.

Never has a sports team looked so good for their style -- while, at the same time, looking so bad for their uniforms.

Incredibly, for all their talent over the years, this is the one and only major tournament the Dutch have ever won. The fact that they won it in the same stadium where they'd lost the World Cup Final, 14 years earlier, made it even sweeter.

The Soviet Union would soon break up, and no country that was once a part of it has ever come close again, unless you want to count Russia reaching the Semifinal of Euro 2008.

*

June 25, 1988 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Tommy John, age 45, outpitched Greg Swindell, for the 282nd win of his career. Jack Clark, in his 1 season with the Yankees, hit a home run. Dave Winfield went 3-for-4. Don Mattingly went 1-for-4. Rickey Henderson was injured and did not play.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Cubs scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th to win it.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 5-1 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Barry Bonds went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Tom Glavine started for the Braves, but Charlie Puleo won the game in relief. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Sox scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken both homered for the O's.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 10-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Robin Yount went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Paul Molitor was injured and did not play.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle. George Brett did not play.